It was on Friday May 17 2025 that the great country musician Alan Jackson entered a stage in Milwaukee and delivered one of the most touching shows of his career that spanned decades. With a sold out crowd in the seats, nation icon 66 year old country singer announced what the fans were dreading but never wanted to come true.
In a rather emotional statement, with a tear in his eye, Jackson sentence is, as follows, this is the last road show of my career, officially marking the end of the tours by the artist and closing his Last Call: One More for the Road Tour with a sentimental statement. The audience cheered with overwhelming emotions and gave it a long standing applause- most of them wiping away tears as they not only knew it was a historic moment, but they were to witness it.
The news was revealed on January 11, the ninth day after Jackson presented an emotional performance of a song “Remember When” at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards, a show which was highly popular on social media and regarded by viewers as a possible farewell performance. Although fans started to speculate about his live concerts in the future, not many were ready to listen to it confirmed in such a small and very touching place.
Amidst all the bad news, Jackson has pulled one more ace to give fans some hope and one more reason to be happy. He announced a few special performances one last time before retirement, probably in the summer of 2026 in Nashville. He said, We are looking at doing some type of big grand finale show in Nashville at some point next summer. I simply felt I needed to put an end to everything where everything began. And that is in Nashville, Tennessee. Music City.” Most of the longtime fans, who have been following Jackson since he had his breakout in the early 1990s, were given a small silver lining by a last minute announcement that a final hometown show will cap off the singer.
In this case, the health struggle has contributed towards this move byJackson to quit touring. He officially announced his diagnosis with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a rare genetic neuropathy that leads to progressive lessening in muscle strength and activity in space and time in a portion of the body, usually the arms and legs. His capacity to perform has been affected more and more by the progressive nature of the disease. In an earlier interview, he said, It has been bothering me since many years and now it is getting too clear. And I was saying I am finding it a little hard to balance even at the microphone. The reason I look the way I do is just so people can know that that is why I look that way.
Jackson has always been one of the most true country voices, as the artist has founded his career on story telling, humility and being embraced by the fans. Whether it was hits such as the “Chattahoochee,” or the sentimental ballad of “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” he has made his own mark in the genre and at the same time remained loyal to the roots. The retirement of the road brings an end to an era–but also the introduction to yet another very memorable goodbye in the city where the story first started.
Alan Jackson addressed the sellout Milwaukee crowd. He said this is his last road show. He said he plans on one last show in Nashville next summer to close things out. pic.twitter.com/sDj8LVxZAz
— Steven Radmer (@Steven_R) May 18, 2025